Mississippi River Boat Road Scholar Adventure-Part 3

Sunday, April 2(Happy Birthday, Dear Mom): After our breakfast buffet a retired riverboat captain, Doc Hawley, joined us to give a lecture on Paddlewheelers, packets, and floating palaces. He has probably seen more of the Mississippi River system than any other living boatman, having worked on nine rivers in seventeen states. His presentation was illustrated by photos often taken from old stereograms, which are the only pictures that were taken of the historic old boats. 

A stereogram of an old Paddlewheeler.

A railroad engine disembarks from a River Boat for the last time.
After this they would be taking the new bridge across the Mississippi River.  

Afterwards we departed by bus for a field trip to Mardi Gras World, beginning with a film that documents the making of floats. A guide took us through the huge warehouse to show us some of the amazing floats that have appeared in Mardi Gras parades through the years, and we saw where artists have already begun working on next year’s floats. We also had plenty of time to explore and take photographs on our own. 

A work space where Styrofoam blocks are covered with paper mache before painting.
Much of the carving of Styrofoam is now done with a robot arm that can work 24/7.  

This year's hot pepper could be next year's banana with just
a new coat of paint.

The warehouse is an incredibly colorful place!

Lunch was at a New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood chain restaurant, where, like yesterday, we had ordered our meals ahead so eating was expedited. The afternoon was free so the six of us split up to do things on our own as couples. Marv and I got dropped off back in the French Quarter and went to the Cabildo and the Presbytère, key components of the Louisiana State Museum system that flank St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. The Cabildo features artifacts of Louisiana and, especially, New Orleans, history and the Presbytère has a very moving exhibit on Hurricane Katrina which gives one the feeling of being immersed in the horror. Upstairs there was an exhibit on Mardi Gras but since we had such a good exposure in the morning we skipped that in order to have time to go to Café du Monde for café au lait and beignets. All of the experiences for the day were pre-payed and all we had to do was show a ticket from our packets, which was very liberating. 

The Superdome was very near our hotel.

Andrew Jackson statue with St. Louis Cathedral behind

Yummmmm! Beignets and Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde.

For dinner the whole group met back up at the world renowned New Orleans School of Cooking where local Chef Michael demonstrated preparation of traditional dishes that we then ate. He was knowledgeable and flamboyant and very entertaining and it made for a wonderful evening of gumbo, shrimp etouffee, pralines, and bananas foster, all washed down with the local Abita Amber beer. Once again we were exhausted when we returned to the hotel for bedtime and sleep came easily. 

Note the mirror above the stove so we could see everything he was doing.

Michael serving the Shrimp Etouffee.

From left: Chuck, Mary, Peggy, Marv, Ann, Shelby

Putting the flame to Bananas Foster.